Emerald Green
by EmoCatDesu
Summary: When you're supposed to be a Malfoy, you're supposed to be a Malfoy. That's what Draco would hear every day from his father, Lucius. But what even is a Malfoy? And how do you become one? Draco is not the typical Malfoy. actually, he's everything his father never wanted him to be. And it doesn't get any better when he slowly falls in love with the public idol, Harry Potter.
1. Just a little boy

There once was the most adorable little boy. His hair was light blond and so fluffy you could eat it as a candycone. Except it wasn't pink. If it had been pink, everybody would have died of cuteness. His eyes were grey and shiny, always shimmering of joy. And his name was Draco Malfoy. Oh, what a beautiful little creature he was, Draco.

When Draco was with his mother, Narcissa, she would make little butterflies fly around Draco's head just to make him smile. See, Draco and his family were magicians. Pure blood. Little Draco was already fascinated by magic and couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts so that he could learn to practice it himself. He especially loved the little butterflies. When he and his mother were on their own, he couldn't be happier - until his dad would enter. Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was the head of the family, and somehow always gloomy. When Lucious entered he would wave his wand to turn the beautiful butterflies into scary bats, and Draco would run crying behind his mother - and then Lucious would laugh. This was his kind of fun. Draco didn't know his father very well because he was never home, but somehow he looked up to him, probably because he was his only fatherly figure, even though he wasn't much of a father at all.

One time, when he was 5, Draco had overheard a conversation between his mother and father.

"You can't keep treating him like this, Lucious, you'll destroy him!" Narcissa said in a high pithced, nervous voice.

"The boy needs to learn" was all Lucious said. After a long pause, Draco could hear his mother crying on the other side of the door. He wanted to go in there and comfort her, but he couldn't - he was too scared of his own father. After a while Lucious sighed:

"I won't let you be alone with him anymore. From now on, I'll take care of his raising."

Draco could hear his footsteps coming closer and tried to run away, but too late - Lucious was already standing in the doorway, Narcissa tripping nervously behind him. He probably realized Draco's attempt to escape, but didn't comment it. All he did was grabbing his hand and pulling him into his office, pushing Narcissa out of the way. As he closed the door, he asked Draco to sit. When the boy just kept standing, confused as he was, Lucious grabbed him and put him in the nearest chair. This was the most contact the two of them had had for years.

"Boy," he started, as he turned his back on him and started walking to his drawer.

"we need to work on you." as he turned around, Draco's teary eyes met his.

"First of all, you need to get with of that" he said, and pointed to Draco's wobbling face. Draco dragged a hand over his eyes to get away the tears. He wanted to make his father proud, and this was the chance.

"Draco, you know what a Malfoy is, right?" he asked, again turning the other way. Draco didn't know what to answer, so he just pointed to himself.

"That's right, Draco, that's you. And me. And your mother." He said, looking out the window.

"But do you know what?" he asked. Draco just shook his head, and Lucius looked somehow disappointed, as if he had expected another answer. Suddenly he turned around, and before Draco realized, he was right in front of him, their eyes only a few inches from each other. He couldn't avoid eye contact any longer.

"I'm going to teach you to be a real Malfoy" Lucius whispered, before he turned away and left Draco alone in the room.

-l-l-l-l-l-

* * *

The years went, and Draco was now 8 years old.

The thing about his father raising didn't really work because he was never home, and when he was, Draco was dead scared of him, because somehow, Lucius was always dissapointed in him, never mind what he did, and there's nothing worse than a dissapointed father (especially not when it's Lucius) - but now his mother didn't raise him either, so he was pretty much on his own, but he had gotten used to it during the years.

On his own he could do whatever he wanted. Sometimes he would borrow his moms dresses, which were of course way too big for him, and walk around in them in his room and pretend to have a tea party. He didn't actually have any teddies or dolls to have a tea party with, because Lucius wouldn't allow that by any chance. He wouldn't allow this either - if he knew. But as said, never home. When his mother occationally caught him in the act, she would just laugh and call him the daughter they never had.

When he was wearing the dresses he wasn't Draco, he was Denice. And Denice was another person. Denice was free from responsibilities and parents. Normally Narcissa would let him keep the dress for the rest of the day, but other times, when she was in a bad mood, she required of him to take it off.

But Draco didn't struggle.

He had learned so much from his father that tears didn't help. Then he would just sit on his bed and read yesterday's newspaper, pretending to be a grown up, even though he wasn't very good at reading. His mom was teaching him, but she almost never had the time. None of them ever had time for anything anymore.

A few months ago, Draco had found a very old newspaper - like, 6-7 years old. It was crumbled into a pile in the corner of the fireplace, right out of reach of the fire. He brought it to his room and tried to read it, but all he understood was something about a boy named Harry Potter - who apparently lived. Harry Potter - the boy who lived. Boy, what a title. Draco would give his left arm to be in his shoes - see, he wasn't able to live himself. How fantastic it must be to just live. Draco hid the newspaper under his pillow, hoping for Lucius not to find it - but how could he, when he was never in there. Harry Potter was now the role model for Draco - a lot more than Lucius was. In the night time he usually dreamt of how this boy might look - just imagine; Harry Potter - the boy who lived - what majestic creature such a person must be. The only thing he knew was that he had a lightning scar on his forehead.

But boy, he wanted to meet Harry Potter.

He wanted to meet the boy who lived.

But most of all - he wanted to be the boy who lived.

-l-l-l-l-l-

* * *

"Draco! Wake up, you lazy bastard!" Narcissa yelled from downstairs.

Draco had turned 11, which meant he was going to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this year. Actually, today. He jumped out of bed. This was the day he had been waiting for. Finally he was going to learn how to practice magic himself. And he was not going to let Lucius turn his butterflies into bats this time (just thinking his name made it shiver down his spine). He jumped into his favorite sweater and ran down the stairs. He almost bumped into the maid of the house, apologized and continued into the living room in where his heart skipped a beat.

Lucious Malfoy.

Lucious was sitting at the end of the table, glaring at Draco with that usual disappointed look in his eyes. Draco didn't know he was going to be home today.

Shivering with anxiety, he pulled himself together and walked into the room without saying a word. Narcissa placed a plate in front of him, and they ate in silence. He didn't even realize what he was eating, it just kind of transported from the plate into his mouth. But suddenly Lucius cleared his throat.

"So Draco" he said, without looking at him.

"When the sorting hat places you in Slytherin, you must remember tw0 things. First of all, you must keep our pride. This means you're supposed to stay on top of class, especially in potions and Defense of The Dark Arts. This is very important. Also, stay to our rank. You don't have to mingle with halfbloods, just because you pitty for them. And for god's sake, Draco, stay away from mudblods."

Lucius had taught him about the ranks in the wizard world. Purebloods, like the Malfoys, were on top of the system. Next to them came halfbloods, who had half wizard blood in their veins. On the bottom was the mudbloods, who did not have any wizard parents but had been accepted into the wizard world anyway. And even below them, in the basement, were the muggles, who did not possess magic in any way. He had learned this by heart, even though he wasn't sure what to believe himself. He felt like he needed to experience them himself to make what to believe, and till now he had almost never left the house, and when he did he only met purebloods.

"But what if I don't get sorted into Slytherin?" Draco asked, still looking at his plate.

"Don't interrupt me!" Lucius hissed through his teeth, but calmed himself and continued:

"But you will. True Malfoys always end up in Slytherin. And you, my son, are a true Malfoy."

For once Draco thought he could spot a little bit that wasn't all disappointment in his voice. A little bit of pride over him. That was only because Lucius didn't know what Draco did when he was alone. If he did, he would be furious. And nobody wants to see Lucius furious. So let's just keep it at that.

"And secondly" Lucius continued "and this is the most important, Draco, I want you to mark you this - don't communicate with Harry Potter. Not in any way. Do you understand?"

Draco was lost after the words "Harry Potter" and completely stopped listening. Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts with him.

Oh.

My.

God.

Draco was almost in tears from keeping his excitement hidden. His head was spinning so fast he almost thought he would lift from his chair in the living room and fly away through the window.

"DRACO MALFOY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Lucius repeated, and Draco fell down again. He had been so far away from the conversation all he could say was "What?" while he tried to fix his bush of hair.

Lucius sighed and looked away.

"For Christ's sake, Draco, just stay away from the Potter boy, okay?" he was just about to lose it, so Draco decided just to nod and avoid eye contact. Lucius sighed again and stood up from the table.

"Now, Narcissa. Fix his hair. He needs to look presentable when he arrives." He said while walking out the door. Draco's hair had grown long and wild, somewhere right above the shoulders, because that's how he liked it, and therefore his mother almost never cut his hair, and when she did she only took the tips because he kept looking at her with his begging puppy eyes and she couldn't stand it. But this time was different. This time she cut more. And more. He thought she was going to stop at the ears, but she didn't. She continued cutting it until it had a nice, short figure with no stray hairs. It looked perfect. Almost too perfect.

After that he went straight to his room, and as soon as the door closed, the tears slowly fell down his cheek and down on the carpet. He had gotten one last glance of all the hair that his mother had cut off before the maid swept it away. He had spent years growing that out. Every time Lucius was home he asked his mother to cut it, but she only cut it a little bit. He looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't even recognize himself anymore. he looked way too grown up. The only thing he was sure was still Draco was his grey, childish eyes. But even those had already lost a bit of their glow. Or maybe it was just hidden by the tears. He wasn't sure. But he didn't care. All he could think about now was getting his suitcase so that he could get to Hogwarts and meet Harry Potter.

-l-l-l-l-l-

* * *

Suddenly, it all went so fast that he didn't even realize it. Suddenly they were out door and on their way to Kings Cross Station. He had been out the other day with his mother to get his books, his wand and his gown. He hadn't even tried it on yet because he thought it was too black for him and that it wouldn't suit him. But of course, he had to wear it when he arrived to Hogwarts. But anyway, everything was packed (he did that days ago because he was so excited to go) and before he knew it they were at platform 9 3/4. Draco was stunned by the amount of people at the station. His mother usually kept him home, so he didn't have much experience with big crowds.

Limp and a bit anxious he followed his parents down the station and he didn't even realize that they stopped, so he bumped right into his mother who just glared at him for a few seconds before looking away again. For a second, he thought he could sense tears in her eyes. But it was probably just imagination, or else it was his own coming in the way. Lucius gave him his suitcase without looking at him when the train arrived, avoiding their hands touching in any way when he took it. Draco turned to his mother, and she gave him a short hug before she turned her bag to him. He would like to think it was to prevent him from seeing her tears, but probably not. He then turned to Lucius, expecting a hug, but he was just standing there, cold as always. Draco was just about to go into the train, disappointed, when Lucius suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He was just about to turn around, expecting his father's open arms and teary eyes, but Lucius leaned forward before he could do anything.

"Don't disappoint me" he whispered in his ear, before he pushed him towards the train.


	2. A flash of green

When Draco entered the train, he had no idea what to do with himself. He turned around to wave at his parents, but they were already long gone. He dried his eyes and held on to his suitcase. He needed to pull himself together now. He was 11, god damn it. And he was going on a journey that he couldn't miss.

He didn't really want to sit with strangers, so he looked for an empty room to be in - which there didn't really seem to be. So he probably had to sit with people.

He looked around for somebody who looked nice. His eyes caught some guy with black bushy hair sitting alone in a room, but the second after, a red-haired boy walked in there and closed the door after him, so he didn't want to disturb.

They probably knew each other already.

Everyone here probably knew each other already.

Except from him.

He sighed and was about to give up and sit in the hallway, when he noticed a chubby boy staring at him from one of the rooms. His mouth was wide open, and behind him another boy peeked over his shoulder with an amazed look in his eye.

Draco coulnd't help but laugh at them, but ended up deciding this was probably the best place to go, so he picked up his suitcase and walked to the room, the two boys following his every move. Without a word he sat on the other side of the room. They were still staring at him and it was actually getting a bit creepy.

"Hi" was all he could manage to say, pathetic as he was. They just kept staring.

"Y-you're a Malfoy, right?" the chubby one squirked.

"Yes, I am Draco Malfoy. Nice to meet you!" he said and reached out his hand. They both grabbed it imediately, as if they had a race about who could touch him first.

"I-I'm Gregory Goyle, and this is Vincent Crabbe" the other guy said and shook his hand very eagerly. Crabbe and Goyle. Draco was sure he had heard those names before. He was actually pretty sure his dad had mentioned their names before.

"But how do you know who I am?" Draco asked, still puzzled.

"Oh, your dad is over us in the group" Crabbe said, "That's why we would always recognize a Malfoy to know who to lie under" he continued, all the time shaking Draco's hand like a ketchup bottle.

Lie under? What the fuck was this supposed to mean?

But, oh well, his mom and dad had always build their relationship on power, so he was probably supposed to do the same here. He didn't know any other way of doing it.

"Well, know your place, then!" He said and tried to look as manly and powerful as possible, like his father. Crabbe and Goyle immediately let go of his hand.  
"Of course, sire" Goyle and Crabbe said in unison. Now they were just sitting there staring at him, all the time smiling like maniacs. It was getting really creepy, so Draco decided to ease the trip with a nap. He didn't know how much these two stalkers were worth as friends, but they were better than nothing.

He woke up when the train stopped. Crabbe and Goyle were already standing up, Goyle carrying Draco's suitcase.

"No, you really don't have to-" he started, but then looked down and realized he hadn't changed his clothes yet. He would have to change to his ropes before entering Hogwarts, other ways it would be awkward.

"I need that!" he said, and grabbed his suitcase out of Goyle's hand.

"And cover me!" He whispered over his shoulder. The boys must have understood what was happening, so they covered in the doorway and started to chit-chat.

"Hey, Crabbe, have you seen any mudbloods yet?" Goyle asked casually.

"Well, Goyle, I haven't seen anyone with mud all over their face, if that's what you mean" he mumbled.

"Other subjects, please" Draco hissed while jumping to get the pants on.

"Eh... okay... the weather is... nice?" Crabbe stumbled over the words while looking awkwardly out the window.

"It's foggy out there, you dumbass. The weather is shitty." Goyle almost yelled, drawing a little bit too much attention.

"You two are incredible" Draco said and laughed as he turned around to close his suitcase. As soon as it was closed, Crabbe grabbed it, receiving a cold stare from Goyle. Draco just laughed even harder, and they started to make it out of the train. Maybe these two weren't the worst friends after all, even though they were creepy. We were the last ones to come out of the train, and we recieved an annoyed look from the conductor, as we waved at him and ran after the other students, who were already at the boats that were supposed to sail us to Hogwarts.

-l-l-l-l-l-

* * *

The weather was cold and foggy, like Goyle had said. Quite shitty, actually. Draco looked around for the boy with the bushy hair, but it was impossible to see anything in this darkness. He could barely see Crabbe and Goyle, who were sitting right in front of him, still staring at him. But then, suddenly, lights started to appear in the darkness - and there it was. Hogwarts. It was big, and with plenty of windows with light in them. It was almost like looking at the stars.

"This is the best school to go to, because it has the best headmaster" Goyle said and snorted.

"I heard he's gay" Crabbe said after a while.

"Eugh!" Goyle said with disgust in his face.

"That can't be true. Nobody with such a talent as Dumbledore is gay" he continued and whiped his hand over his dripping nose. Draco didn't know what to say about this, due to that he didn't know much about gay people. Or actually, just people in general. But he had heard about Dumbledore, Lucius mentioned him often. Apparently he's a very powerful and wise man, and if you have power, people probably don't care if you're gay or not.

"What do you think, Draco?" Goyle asked, making puppy eyes, probably to make him part with him. He didn't want to party with any with any of them, honestly, so he just shrugged and looked back at Hogwarts. They were almost there.

"Here's what I think" he started, and both of them were sitting on ballpens, all their attention drawn to Draco.

"I think Hogwarts looks amazing" he continued and laughed. After a few seconds Crabbe and Goyle laughed with him, but it was the fakest laugh he had ever heard. They probably just wanted to stay friends with him, and he wouldn't stop them in that.

A few minutes later they boarded at Hogwarts and was lead to the dining hall by a Professor McGonagall. When they arrived, they had to wait outside. Apparently the older classes were already in there but they couldn't get in yet. He didn't really feel like talking to the two creeps following him, they were just staring at him anyway, so he started to look around. His eyes floated over thousands of people, all murmuring about how they missed home or how glad they were to get away and that kind of stuff.

And then he saw him.

His eyes fixed on the black bush again. He was just standing there with two other people, the red head who walked into his room before Draco could, and a girl with, to be honest, a rather ugly face, but it was covered by her wild, fierce hair.

He studied his face, rather pretty, his eyes beautiful, green, it was almost as if they cut through the room, and that's when he saw it.

The scar.

The lightning scar.

This was it. This was Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Overwhelmed, Draco could barely stand on his feet, but Crabbe and Goyle didn't notice anything - they were discussing what food they were going to get in there.

Draco's eyes were swelling, and his head was spinning around.

His idol, standing right in front of him. Crabbe and Goyle noticed something was happening and looked in Draco's direction.

"That's Harry Potter" Crabbe whispered. Draco just nodded, not taking his eyes off him for a second.

"But who are the ones he's standing with?" he asked, lacking of breath.

"That red head guy must be a Weasley. And that girl is Hermione Granger. She's a mudblood."Goyle whispered a bit too loud.

Draco slowly started walking towards them. He had this second decided to break a rule, and to follow a rule. He was going to talk to Harry Potter, no matter what. And he was going to stay away from mudbloods, and save Harry from them.

Because he needed to get Harry to himself.

He needed Harry to himself, and if that girl Granger was out of the way it might make it a bit easier. He straightened himself up, took a deep breath and casually walked towards Harry and the two others. Not knowing what happened, an energy rush suddenly kicked in as he walked close and closer. When he arrived he was completely under control and ready to take the world

\- but then Harry turned around.

Their eyes met, and suddenly he froze.

Harry's eyes were kind, but still intense and wild, in some way he couldn't describe. It was as if the green in his eyes were spitting out through his glasses and floating into his own eyes. It was indescribable, yet incredible.

"Hi" Harry said, and reached out a hand. Draco just awkwardly waved until he noticed the hand and grabbed it.

"H-harry Potter, right?" he mumbled. Harry nodded and smiled awkwardly.

"Well..." Draco started, and took a deep breath.

"Draco. Draco Malfoy. I see that you're on my league, so why don't you come with me and I'll help you find some real friends?" on my league? What the actual fuck did he just say? He shouldn't have said that. He so shouldn't have said that.

"Well, I'm sorry, Draco Malfoy" Harry said, letting go of his hand.

"But even if I'm on your league, I think i can decide who are the real friends and who aren't."

The three of them turned around and walked away from Draco, leaving him standing there like an idiot. Crabbe and Goyle just stood there in the background, apparently not understanding what just happened.

He just got turned down. By his idol. This was a bad start of the year. This was a very bad start indeed. He just turned around, shrugged at Crabbe and Goyle like nothing happened, but inside he was crying. He wanted to go to his room, but he didn't have one yet. God damn it. So instead he just stood there and let Crabbe and Goyle stare all they wanted.

-l-l-l-l-l-

* * *

Soon, the doors were finally opened. All the first years were put up in rows and were called up one by one to be placed into a house by the sorting hat. All the older students were staring at them, and it was actually getting quite annoying. He just wanted to go up there, be sorted into his house and get this overwith.

As the pupils were called up one by one, he looked around the room. The dining hall was enormous, and the roof was as if transparent, but still solid. You could see the stars outside, the cloudy skies, but it wasn't cold. You could actually enjoy the beauties of the nighttime without being cold. Amazing. It was like magic - which it probably was. Everything here was magic. That's what Draco loved so much about it. As he thought about how he would spend the next 7 years in this place he couldn't help but smile. Crabbe and Goyle were probably staring at him weirdly, but he didn't really care that much right now. He just wanted to take the moment to enjoy the beauty of magic.

He was just about to reach for the roof, just to try and touch it, even though he was no near tall enough to reach it (nobody in there was, not even the grown-ups, this was a damn high rooftop, how were they even able to build this room? Oh yeah, magic) when his attention was drawn to the sorting hat.

The Granger girl was up there. Her fiery hair was almost covering her freckled face as she sat down on the chair, looking concentrated as if this was an exam or something. Stupid little girl. Somehow, Draco already hated her like hell.

"GRYFFINDOR" the sorting hat yelled, and the girl jumped up and down and looked like she was about to die of happiness. Why did it even mean so much what house you get into? Draco knew that Lucius wanted him to get into Slytherin, but he honestly didn't care that much for it himself. All he wanted was really to be able to be somehow near Harry and try to make it up to him. He had to. It was Harry Freaking Potter - the boy who lived - he couldn't be on bad foot with him. That was a no go.

Next up was the Weasley boy. He looked like an awkward dork - which he was, to be honest. He also got sorted into Gryffindor, and he ran down to that Granger girl like she was the love of his life. They actually suited each other, somehow. In their own, dorky way.

And then it was Harry. Harry Potter.

Draco's stare intensified as Harry walked to the sorting hat. He looked quite nervous, like he was going to puke or something. Draco had to struggle to keep himself from running up there, hugging him and never letting go. As he sat down in the chair, their eyes met for a short second. Like a green flash. Draco had to blink to focus again. The hat was placed on Harry's head. But somehow it took longer that it had with the others. Harry was mumbling something, but Draco couldn't read what. (Note to self: learn lip reading.) Draco couldn't even focus on what was going on around him anymore. But in the end, the hat yelled Gryffindor.

Fuck.

This meant that Draco would have to get sorted into Gryffindor to split Harry from his other friends. His eyes still followed Harry as he walked, apparently relieved, to Weasley and Granger. He just had to get into Gryffindor.

Without even noticing, Draco's feet started moving towards the sorting hat as his name was yelled, maybe because Crabbe and Goyle casually started pushing him forward. He shook his head and drew his eyes away from Harry for the first time in like half an hour.

The path to the sorting hat was longer than he had expected, and everybody was staring at him so he just tried to walk as fast as he could without getting eye contact. If only he had had a hoodie to pull up, that would've been so much easier than this. As he sat down on the chair, he closed his eyes t0 avoid all the people out there. They weren't there. It was just him and the sorting hat. And Harry. The hat was placed on his head, and he started concentrating. Maybe he could influence where he was placed.

"Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor" he silently started mumbling. The hat laughed.

"Oh trust me, boy, you're not a Gryffindor" it said, as if it was making fun of him.

"SLYTHERIN!" it yelled the second after. Damn it. Apparently all Malfoys really were Slytherins. Well, if that was the case, he didn't want to be a Malfoy. Almost crying, he stood up as soon as the hat was removed from his head. (He had almost been tempted to run out, still wearing the hat, just to get out of the room as soon as possible) His feet moved fast, and he headed straight for a way out, but everything was blocked by students, so he ended up just sitting with the other Slytherins as he was supposed to. This was horrible. He wanted to get out of this room. Away from all the people, just to be alone. He wanted to go to his room.

Without thinking he let his eyes flee over the room, away from the people that were making friends at his table, he didn't want anything to do with those folks. As expected, his eyes landed on the black bushy hair. Harry wasn't looking Draco's way, but he could still see his eyes anyway. You couldn't ever forget that color, even if you tried.

Crabbe and Goyle came sitting beside him (fighting about who should be right next to him, incredibly enough), so apparently they got sorted into Slytherin as well. This meant he couldn't get whit of them. Hiding a sigh, he just looked at them quickly and nodded before he went back to the one man staring contest.

He was going to win him over.

He could win him over, even though they were not in the same house. He could win him over.

Fuck Weasley and Granger.

He could win him over, and he was going to. A slight smile spread upon his lips, and he didn't even try to hide it. The last thing Draco saw of Harry before his view was blocked was his eyes. He had been looking at him and they had had eye contact for a second before it was interrupted.

Just a flash.

A flash of Harry.

A flash of green.


	3. Elves and eggs

Breath in. Breath out.

Draco was trying to clear his head. This was not happening. This was so not happening. After dinner the houses were shown to their dormitories, and not enough the Slytherin's dormitory was in the basement, it was a shared dormitory. Which meant they would all sleep in the same room. Together. Draco's mind was a mess and he was really pulling himself not to break down in front of everyone. He couldn't do this - no way! This way he would have no privacy at all, this way he would have no place to walk around in… Draco pictured the dress. The dress that he had brought. That he had stolen from his mother. It was black and with little yellow flowers all over, and it was his favorite of them all. All he hoped for was that his mom wouldn't notice in the instant. He would like to keep it just a bit longer. As when he was smaller, Draco still liked to walk around in dresses. Just walk around in them. It made him feel pretty, somehow. But now that was over, supposedly. With his head dropping all the way to the floor, he trudged inside the dormitory. Their suitcases had already been brought up, but Draco didn't even care to unpack. He just dropped on his bed and the moment after, he was fast asleep.

The next morning, when he opened his eyes, the early morning light was shining through the window beside his bed. Already cringing from the expectance of sounds all around and boys walking around his bed, he rubbed his eyes in disgust - but there were no sounds. He looked around, and apparently everyone was still sleeping. It was probably way too early to get up, but there was no way he could fall asleep again now, knowing that there were way too many undiscovered areas at Hogwarts for him to explore. So he got out of bed, silently changed his clothes and walked out in the common room of the Slytherins. It was way much cozier than he remembered from last night. The walls and furniture had a dark green-ish color, just like his tie, like everything was color-coded. For a second he imagined Harry sitting in an all red-and-gold room and couldn't help but smile. By the wall was a fireplace, a few armchairs and a sofa. It was actually quite nice. Or, it could have been worse, at least. It wasn't dead in the same way as the Malfoy-house. This wasn't so bad of a place to live. Besides all the other people and the lack of privacy, but oh well, he could probably live with that. Maybe there was an unused classroom or something like that in where he could walk around in his dress. He quickly looked at a clock on the wall. A quarter to five. Normally he would be totally bummed at this time of the hour, but now he wasn't. Actually, it seemed like he had way too much energy. Last night Dumbledore had said something about a corridor that students should stay away from if they did not wish a most painful death (a little overdramatic, to be honest, Draco had thought), but he couldn't remember which one. Anyway, he would probably find out eventually if one of the corridors were life-threatening. Without a second thought, Draco leaped out the door to explore his new home.

* * *

The first thing he noticed when he went outside was a smell. It was a smell most delicious, so delicious he couldn't even describe it. Before he knew it, he was following the smell down the hall, taking him places where he could probably not find back from, but he didn't really care right now. He was following his stomach. He didn't have any apatite last night (plus, he kept glancing at Harry from time to time, so he didn't really have time to eat, honestly), so he hadn't eaten properly since the breakfast yesterday morning. Finally he saw light at the end of a hallway, and he followed it. It was a kitchen, filled with steam and the delicate smell of food. All over the kitchen there were house elves preparing the food, just like the ones they had at the Malfoy-house. A house elf saw Draco from the other side of the kitchen, which was quite big, and was there in the glint of an eye (literally).

"Can I help you with anything, sir?" she said. Her eyes were lively, so lively you couldn't really avoid eye contact.

"Oh, I'm no sir" Draco said and laughed, slightly awkward.

"In here everybody is a sir" the house elf said and smiled. It might be weird to say about such a crooked face as a house elf's, but she was kind of beautiful.

"Well…" Draco started, and looked around the kitchen.

"Do you have something to eat?" He finally asked, looking down at the house elf.

"Are you at Hogwarts?" she just asked back, and Draco glanced at her, a bit confused.

"Uhm… yeah?" he answered and shrugged.

"And this is the kitchen, right?" the house elf continued, Draco's face turning into one big question mark.

Suddenly the elf busted into laughter and started dragging Draco inside.

"Why, of course we've got something to eat!" she said, still chuckling. Draco sighed in relieve and followed.

"What would you like, my boy?" she asked, as she started scrambling with something at a table.

"Do you have scrambled eggs?" he asked and tried to look past her.

"With bacon!" she declared, and stood in front of him with a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon and a piece of bread. This was probably the best meal Draco had ever seen, helped by the fact that he was starving.

"Thank you so much!" he said, his eyes shining like he was literally looking at the love of his life.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way" he said, his mouth already stuff with eggs.

"Oh I know who you are" she said and smiled. Draco's face turned into a weird grimace.

"Everybody knows a Malfoy when they see one!" She said, obviously sensing Draco's confusion.

"It's probably the hair" she said and gestured at Draco's neatly trimmed, blond hair. If only she had seen him before he got his hair cut, he might not have been labeled as a Malfoy from the start.

"By the way, I'm"

"FELICIA" one of the other elves came storming from the back of the kitchen, his eyes furious. Draco never thought he would be afraid of a house elf, but if there was to be one, this was definitely it.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU WE DO NOT SERVE FOOD OUT OF HOURS" he yelled, and was standing beside her the next second. Felicia just sighed and started leading Draco out of the kitchen (which was actually pretty crowded with house elves, it was even hard to make it to the entrance).

"The boy was starving, Bart" she said, not even caring to look over her shoulder.

"You go, boy" she whispered and gently pushed Draco out in the hallway as she turned again to pick up the fight with Bart. Draco didn't think twice before he was far away from that place. He didn't want anything to do with that furious little elf.

* * *

As soon as Draco was done with his plate, he started looking around. So many places to explore! It was quite a luck that he had 7 years to get to know everything here. If Narcissa had been here, she would probably say something like "For god's sake, boy, spend your time on something proper instead of this useless time-wasting" or "You don't need to explore. The world is in your books!". But she wasn't here now, so he could do what he wanted to. A roaming joy started filling in his chest, and before he knew it, he was jumping around in the halls, screaming and singing, as if just to use his voice for something. He started spinning, imagining he was wearing his dress, imagining the wonderful clothing draping around his legs, swinging like it would do in his own room at home. In the end he couldn't even control his spinning anymore and ended up falling over his own legs and faceplanted the floor. When he was younger, this would have made him break into tears (these situations had occasionally caused quite a few blood stains on his mother's dresses), but right now he just couldn't stop laughing. He was just lying there on the floor, rolling around, laughing his lungs out when he suddenly looked up and noticed a ghost was right over him.

"AAAH!" he squealed and started backing off. The ghost just looked at him, but then busted into laughter.

"Why, aren't you a squealer!" he said, still laughing like a maniac.

"Who are you even?" Draco asked, slightly confused.

"Me?" the ghost said, between small chuckles.

"Why, I'm Peeves, of course! The best legendary prankster of Hogwarts!" he said in a kind of proud, but still sarcastic voice.

"Aren't you the only legendary prankster of Hogwarts?" Draco asked and sat up.

"Well, that also makes me the best, now, doesn't it?" Peeves said and looked offended for a second, before he turned to his sassy smile again.

"What are you even doing out now?" he asked with a skeptic look in his eyes.

"Students aren't supposed to be up yet. Why the heck aren't you sleeping, boy?"

Draco just shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep any longer, I guess" he said and finally stood up again (he had not been able to stand up before, because his head kept spinning around so that he could hardly even see Peeves properly).

"Well, I'll be off then" Draco said, but before he could go anywhere Peeves leaped in front of him as if he could actually stand in his way.

"You think I'm just going to let you go like that, huh? You know, we're supposed to tell the teachers if we see any students out of bed out of hours." Peeves said and put his hands in his sides.

Draco suddenly stiffened. He didn't want to get into trouble with any of the teachers already. He was just about to beg Peeves to please not tell, but he interrupted him.

"But lucky for you, I don't' like the teachers. Too many rules." He said, and moved out of Draco's way.

"Thanks!" Was all Draco managed to say, before he stormed out the front door. He needed to get out into the open air, where there was proper room for his spinning.

Outside it was a bit chilly, but it was nice. He took off his shoes and socks just to feel the grass between his toes (Narcissa never ever let him do that, because he would get "dirty feet") leaped around himself a few times and fell to the ground, but the grass was soft so he didn't even feel it. It was as landing on a pillow - as magic (could it really be true that even the grass here was magic?). For a long time he was just lying there, thinking about how awesome it would be when he learned magic himself. When he learned to make the butterflies himself. And not turn them into bats. Because at Hogwarts he was not like Lucius Malfoy. At Hogwarts he was not Draco Malfoy.

Here he was just Draco.


End file.
